Peter Scott’s report on the unequal results achieved by poor and middle-class students at universities in Scotland is a strange hybrid. On the one hand it acknowledges that the education system as a whole is failing children from deprived backgrounds. On the other its recommendations lay the onus for improvement almost entirely on the higher education sector. Universities, it concludes, must do more to ensure that poorer children progress through the system; universities, not schools, must raise their game. He calls for pressure on universities to ensure that students from less well-off families gain the same benefit from their studies, and he has the backing of the universities minister, Shirley-Anne Somerville, who says students from deprived backgrounds are “experiencing inequality at every step”.
Yet after his investigation of the growing attainment gap between students from opposite ends of the social spectrum, Professor Scott must know that the roots of the problem go far deeper.
Most universities admit that they struggle to attract applications from schools in the most deprived areas of Scotland. They are acutely aware that they are judged on their success or lack of it in this area, and most of them do as much as they can. Ensuring that students go on to complete their course is more challenging, and Professor Scott is right that “there is a role for universities and colleges to play in supporting learners.”
The resilience an undergraduate needs must be considered earlier. Unless there is a background of learning established in a child’s early years then even students who receive extra help will struggle. That may stray beyond Professor Scott’s remit, but it should have been given equal weight with his other recommendations. What is unacceptable is the implication that universities should lower standards in order to widen the intake of students.